Photographic film-pack casing



May 31, 1932. M. SCHMIDT ET AL PHOTOGRAPHIG FILM PACK CASING Filed Jan. '7, 1950 Patented May 31, 1932 UNITED STATES PAENT QFFICE IVIAX SCHMIDT, OF DESSAU IN ANHALT, AND PAUL HANKE, F WOLFEN KREIS BIT- TERFIELD, GERMANY, ASSI'GNORS T0 AGFA ANSCO CORPORATION, OF RING-HAM- TON, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK 'PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM-PACK CASING Application and January 7, 1930, Serial No.

The presentinvention relates to a filmpack casing, more particularly to a filmpack casing made from sheet metal in as few single parts as possible, the number of. op-

erations necessary for .the;manufacture of the single parts being reduced as far as possible.

- One object of our invention is to provide a very simple film-pack casing the main body of which, containing the exposure window,

and the partition wall necessary for dividing the easing into a front compartment and a rear compartment, is constructed by punching and bending one piece of sheet metal only. This new main body can be combined in known, manner with aback part and a closure cap. The construction of the filmpackcasing is, moreover, considerably simplified-by replacing the said back part and 2 the closing cap by a back part made of one piece. f 1

The accompanying drawings illustrate by way of example one form of a film casing constructed according tothe present inven- Fig. 1 represents the main body with-the partition wallmade of one piece, Fig. 2 the back part, both in section, and Fig. 3 represents a perspective view of the filmpa'ck casing, while the parts are joined together.

The main body or the front compartment contains the exposurewindow cut into the front wall 1. The edges ofthe front wall are bent at right angles and form the side walls 2, 3, 4 and 5. The corners of the frame formed by the said walls are protected against the entry of light inany suitable manner, for instanceby folding them in such a way that they overlap each other. The upper side wall 5 has an extension 6 punched from the same metal sheet and bent down wardly atra right angle this extension being provided in known manner with resilient tongues 7, 8, 9 and-.10 cutout from the exten- 419,169, and in Germany January 10, 1929.

sion 6, and at its lower free edge with a cylindrical guide member 11 for the films when they are moved into the rear compartment. This extension of the upper side wall 5 forms the partition wall that divides the casing into two compartments. In order to ensure that the guidance of the films in the exposure window is as exact as possible the said partition wall can be bent along its longitudinal sides at right angles to the exposure win dow. By selecting suitable dimensions for the so-formed lateral walls 12, 13 of the internal partition the films stored in the front compartment will be exactly parallel to the plane of the exposure aperture and these lateral walls will serve as guides for the films if their-distance apart exactly corresponds to the breadth of the films. The side walls of the main body, especially the longitudinal walls, may furthermore be provided with catches, pins or other similar projections or with indentations 14 and 15 such as grooves, notches, or the like, which engage with corresponding cavities and projections of the back part.

, The edges of the rear part 16 are bent upwards at a right angle and form the lower side wall 17 and the longitudinal side walls 18 and 19. Also in this case the corners of the frame formed by the side walls can be rendered light-tight by folding the ends of the side walls so that they overlap each other. At the upper narrow side there is no side Wall, but a light excluding strip 20 made of velvet or any other suitable material. The strip of velvet can be fastened by clamping it under the folded-over upper edge 21 of the backing part. Furthermore, certain parts of the folded edge can be bent forwardly at a right angle so as to form the projections 22 and 23 which will prevent the exposed films from being drawn out too far from the rear compartment. The side walls of the rear casing are provided with projections such as catches or the like or with cavities 24, 25, such casing the films fixed to the draw-tabs 26 and apressure plate are disposed between the exposure window 2 and the partition wall 6, whereas the draw-tabs are passed around'the cylindrical guideway 11 to the other side of the partition 6. Subsequently, the rear casing is inserted with the lower side wall 17- between the cylindrical guideway 11 and the lower side wall of the main body which for this purpose can be provided with an upwardly extending right-angled edge or flange 28. In this manner the main or front compartment and the rear compartment are assembled in the manner of a hinge. The casing is closed byturning the rear compartment towards the front compartment. By this operation the projections 14, 15 of the main body engage with the cavities 24, 25 of the rear casing and, as they cooperate with the flanged edge 28'of the main body, they hold the rear part and the main body.

Besides the simplified manufacture, the new film-pack casing according to this invention offersthe advantage of an easier manipulation in comparison with the hitherto known film-pack casings. For opening the casing a slight pull at the upper edge 21 of the rear compartment will be suflicient. When the casing is open, the exposed films are lying on the partition so that they are easily accessible and need not be drawn out through a narrow opening. The casing is closed in a handy manner by turning the rear compartment towards the front compartment.

We claim: f I Y 1. In a photographic film packcasing. a sheet metal main body member comprising a front wall an d four side walls, the whole body member being made of one piece, an exposure window cut into the front wall of the main body member, the upper side wall of the latter being extended and bent downwardly, this extension thus forming a partition which divides the casing into two compartments, said partition being provided with resilient tongues and also at its lower edge with a cylindrical guide member for the film.

2. In a photographic film pack casing. a sheet metal main body member comprising a front wall and four side walls, the whole body member being made of one piece, an exposure window cut into the front 'wallof the main body member, the upper side wall of the latter being extended and bent downwardly, this extension thus forming a partition which divides the easing into two compartments, said partition being provided with resilient tongues and also at its lower edge with a cylindrical guide member for the film, and a backing member provided at its lower short side and at both longitudinal sides with side walls and at the upper short side with a light excluding strip.

8. In a photographic film pack casing, a sheet metal main body member comprising. a front wall and four side walls, the whole body member being made of" one piece, an exposure window cut into the front wall of the main body member, the upper side wall of the latter being extended and bent downwardly, this extension thus forming a partition which divides the casing into two compartments, said partition-beingprovided with resilient tongues and also at its lower edge with a cylindrical guide member for the film, and a backing member provided on its lower short side and at both longitudinalsides with side walls and at the upper short side with a light excluding strip, and with abutments for the film to prevent accidental withdrawal of the film, said side walls closely fitting into the side wallsof the main body member;

4;. In a photographic film pack'casing, a sheet metal main body member comprising a front wall and four side walls, the whole body member being made of one piece, an exposure window cut into the front wall of the main body member, the upper'sidewall of the latter being extended'and bent downwardly, this extension thus forming a partition which divides the casing into two compartments, said partition being provided with resilient tongues and also at its lower edge with a cylindrical guide member for the film, and a backing member provided' on' its lower short side and at two longitudinal sides with side walls and at the upper short side with a light excluding strip, and with abutments for the film to prevent accidental withdrawal oft-he film, said side walls closely fitting into the side walls of the main body member, and means to j oin themain body member and the backing part. i

5; In a photographic film pack casing, a sheet metal main body member comprising a front wall and four side walls, the whole body member being made of one piece, an exposure window cut into the front wallof the main body member, cavities in the lateral side walls, the upper side wall of the main body member being extended and bent downwardly, this extension thus forming a partition which divides the casing intotwo compartment's, said partition being provided with resilient tongues and also at its lower edge with a cylindrical guide memberfor the film, the lower side wall of the main body memher being bent upwardly at right angles to form asmall flange for the engagement of the backing member, a backing member provided at its lower short side and at both longitudinal sides with side walls and at the upper short side with a light excluding strip, the longitudinal side walls closely fitting into the lateral side walls of the main body and provided with projections for engagement with the cavities in the lateral side walls of the main body member.

In testimony whereof, we afiix our signatures.

MAX SCHMIDT. PAUL HANKE. 

